The First Ultrasound…

Friday morning, I flew down to Burbank to attend the first ultrasound, courtesy of my parents. Given that the clinic is in the LA area and it was a Friday, I was pretty sure that traffic from the airport to the clinic was going to be awful. To make sure that I had plenty of time, I took the first flight down there at 6:30am–which meant that I had to be up at 4:30. While I’ve had my share of early mornings (hello, USMC), it’s still tough to be up at least an hour before the sun is even getting close to rising.

The flight and car pickup were uneventful, and I was surprised by the traffic, which actually wasn’t too bad. I even had time to stop and eat breakfast. Since our GS has started experiencing some nausea, I also picked up a small package of Preggie Pops for her. Reviews on those are mixed; I know some who swear by them, and others who swear at the fact that they didn’t help at all. I figured that at worst they would do nothing for the nausea and just act like candy, and at best they would make her feel less queasy. And for $5, it would be easy enough to find out 🙂

As for the ultrasound itself, the first minute was excruciating. Would there be one or two in there? Did we have a splitter? Or, worst of all–would there be an empty sac? Dr. K asked me how many we put back, and I told him 2. He asked how many I wanted, and I told him that I’d be happy with either one or two. He smiled, and said…

“You’ve got twins on the way!”

Both measured at 6w2d gestation, which he was happy with. As far as he’s concerned, if they’re within 3 days of the calculated gestational age, then things are good. Gestational age starts at 14 days before egg retrieval (not transfer, like I had originally thought)–which means that they were technically 6w4d at the ultrasound.

I was a little surprised by my reaction to the heartbeats. Seeing the tiniest points of light on the screen flashing on and off, knowing that it was the beating hearts of my children, was far more powerful than I had imagined. I expected to get a lump in my throat, or maybe even some tears; I did not expect to be struck dumb, mouth hanging open, unable to get any words out. For the record, one was measured at 114bpm, and the other was 126bpm.

After that we scheduled the next ultrasound (I’m going to that one too, since I already made arrangements to fly to SD and drive up), and then she and I went to lunch. It was nice being able to sit and chat over a meal; even better, she was able to enjoy her food without feeling ill.

I then drove back to the airport, returned the car, and passed the time calling immediate family members with the news. While my parents weren’t quite as excited as my husband and I are (I don’t think anyone could have been, to be honest), they were still thrilled to hear that they’re finally going to be grandparents.

And now, the big question: Is it too early to start shopping? 😉

(Edited to Add:)

Stats at 6weeks, 4 days:

Baby A measured at 6w2d (2 days behind), CRL 6.6mm, and heart rate was 114bpm.

I will admit that the thought of diapers, nighttime feedings, and college x 2 is a bit scary. But we also knew that twins were likely, and pretty much started planning for them from the beginning. Not having had a child before the twins may turn out to be an advantage; we’ll never know what it’s like to only care for one. 🙂